Perching behaviour and seasonal incidence of black drongo, Dicrurus macrocercus (Vieillot) on Apis mellifera linnaeus apiaries under Terai agro-ecological region of West Bengal

Black drongo, Dicrurus macrocercus is an important insectivorous bird that also feeds on honey bees and is considered as an important natural enemy of Western honey bees (Apis mellifera Linn.) causing a significant reduction in the colony strength and honey yield. The present investigation evaluated the perching behaviour and seasonal incidence of D. macrocercus in apiary of A. mellifera under terai agro-ecological region of West Bengal, India. Black drongo used different trees, shrubs, crops, electric wires, and different other structures for perching with more preference to trees (43.50%) at an average height of 6.93 m. This bird was more active to A. mellifera colonies from September-November and was quite successful as a predator (56.27%). Higher activity was during the evening hours i.e. 03:00-04:00 pm (7.04 number of raids) when a greater number of honey bees returned from foraging. The results obtained from the study can be helpful to determine the perching ecology of black drongo and to design appropriate vertebrate predator management protocols against the black drongo that will allow the beekeepers to focus on that particular time period when this pest is more abundant.